SPOONER
,
JAMES
(
1789
-
1856
),
railway engineer
;

b.
1789
, d.
Portmadoc
,
18 Aug. 1856
. He came to
Maentwrog
from
Birmingham
. At the request of
W. A.Madocks
(q.v.)
and afterwards of
SamuelHolland
(q.v.)
, he
surveyed a narrow-gauge railway
from
Blaenau Ffestiniog
to
Portmadoc
, to carry slates from the quarries to the harbour. This line, called ‘
The Festiniog Railway
,’ was completed in
April 1836
. It became the pioneer of narrow-gauge railways throughout the world.

His son

CHARLESEASTON
(
1818
-
1889
),
railway engineer
,

was b. at
Maentwrog
. He assisted his father and afterwards became his successor as
engineer
of the
Festiniog railway
. He
wrote and lectured much on the subject of narrow-gauge railways
, and his book,
Narrow Gauge Railways
,
1871
, is a standard work. He d.
18 Nov. 1889
.